City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The Sweetest Place on Earth is just one win away.

The PIAA state semifinals take place this upcoming weekend — Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22 — at high school gyms across the state, with 48 teams still alive in 12 different brackets across six classifications on the boys and girls’ sides. That includes 16 teams from the Philadelphia area still alive, with eight local squads playing on Friday and eight on Saturday. 

Here’s a look at each of Saturday’s semifinals involving local teams:

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Kingston Wheatley (above) and West Catholic won the state title in 2023. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Boys 3A
West Catholic (12-1) vs. Holy Cross (2-2)
Parkland HS, 2:30 PM

Both of these teams have made deep postseason runs in recent memory. For West Catholic, that was a state championship two years back, the Burrs capturing the 2023 3A crown with an 83-55 win over Deer Lake. Holy Cross was in the 2A title game just last March, losing to Aliquippa, with the entire starting lineup back in the mix. West Catholic doesn’t have that Hershey experience on the roster, with only a couple pieces still remaining from that title run, but a Catholic League battle-tested team is always a threat this time of year. 

Burrs coach Miguel Bocachica has a confident, aggressive group which doesn’t have one star but has a lot of quality pieces. That was evident in a quarterfinal win over Riverside, which saw six different West Catholic players score between six and 12 points, Senior guard Saaid Lee is the veteran member of the backcourt, but they have some exciting sophomores in Eric Scott, Rahmir Speaks, Xavier Fauntroy and Jayvon Byrd, all tenacious guards who defend at a high level and can get themselves a bucket, with 6-7 junior Kingston Wheatley and 6-5 senior Jaden Banner giving them some size up front. 

Holy Cross’ roster is almost entirely seniors and sophomores, with only one junior on the roster. Senior guard Michael Hughes, senior forward Matt Lyons, senior wing Mario Matrone and sophomore guard CJ Thompson have been their leaders this season, with Thompson scoring 15 points in the quarterfinal win over Lancaster Mennonite. Lyons, a 6-6 wing and Arcadia commit, surpassed the 1,000-point mark in that win. Another sophomore, Adam Badryka, added 10 against Lancaster Mennonite as all five starters hit double figures. 

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Shayla Smith (above) and Audenried have a District 12 championship game rematch with Neumann-Goretti. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Girls 4A
Neumann-Goretti (12-2) vs. Audenried Charter (12-1)
St. Joseph’s Prep, 1:00 PM

This rematch seemed destined ever since Audenried beat Neumann-Goretti in the District 12 Class 4A championship, 77-66, back on February 28. In the states, Audenried has won its three playoff games by an average of 30.3 points, blowing out District 3, No. 3-seed Northern Lebanon in the state quarters last Saturday, 67-27, holding the Lady Vikings to two second-half field goals.

For the second-straight year, the Rockets (23-7) advanced to the PIAA Class 4A state semifinals. No Philadelphia Public League girls’ basketball team has ever won a state championship. Penn State-bound Shayla Smith once again led the Rockets in the quarterfinal victory, scoring a game-high 21 points, giving her 2,652 career points, just 30 shy of breaking former Strawberry Mansion star Maureece Rice’s all-time 2,681 career points total.

Neumann-Goretti head coach Andrea Peterson has won five state championships in her 11 years, the last coming when her pair of 5-foot-5 senior star guards Carryn Easley and Amya Scott were freshmen in 2022. This is the furthest the Saints (24-3) have advanced in Class 4A, beating Albany-bound center Amaya Stewart and District 3 Class 4A champion Wyomissing in the second round, and surging late in the state quarters past last year’s Class 4A state finalist Scranton Prep, the team that knocked out Audenried in last year’s state semifinals.

When Audenried and Neumann-Goretti met in the District 12 championship, the Saints held a 41-27 halftime lead, before Smith and the Rockets’ 6-foot-3 sophomore Nasiaah Russell took over in the second half. Smith scored 26 of her game-high 35 in the last 16 minutes, mostly on layups, and Russell grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked six shots in the game. The Fordham-bound Easley, the Catholic League MVP, finished with 26, although scored only five points in the second half.

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Sanyiah Littlejohn (above) and Lansdale Catholic take on North Catholic. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Girls 4A
Lansdale Catholic (12-3) vs. North Catholic (7-3)
Chambersburg HS, 1:00 PM

Of all the CoBL area teams left in the state playoffs, none have been the road warriors that the Crusaders have been. LC’s already logged 812 miles (approximately, we’re going off Google Maps here) of round trips and they’ll add about 316 more miles onto that Saturday when they trek out to Chambersburg. It’s a bit similar to their run to the state final three years ago and with a win, LC would make it an impressive three PIAA title games in four years, although a hot North Catholic team is a formidable challenge first.

After scratching one out against Lancaster Catholic in an all-LC, all-Crusaders first round, the PCL’s Crusaders have put the clamps down defensively the last two rounds by allowing just 54 total points to Forest Hills and WPIAL champion Oakland Catholic. The senior trio of Sanyiah Littlejohn (George Mason), Grace McDonough (James Madison) and Nadia Yemola (Kutztown) have led the way in coach Tom Lonergan’s first foray into states with the Crusaders. Lansdale Catholic has also gotten some nice contributions from sophomores Allie Espostio and Ali Kaltenbacher, junior Aubrey Mobley and senior Isabella Ciccocelli in the last two games.

North Catholic has been one of western PA’s top teams for years, coach Molly Rottman owning 12 WPIAL titles. This year, her Trojanettes have been sparked by an injection of youth but North Catholic’s no-doubt leader is senior Sarah Loughry, a Cedarville recruit who was credited with a triple-double in the second round. Sophomore Brady Wehner and freshman Sam Weir form the rest of the Trojanettes’ top trio, both underclassmen plenty confident and capable while putting up some strong outings this year. Senior Mackenzie James, sophomores Anna Lazzara and Lauren Reitz and freshmen Harmony Jones and Kate Vislosky also factor into the North Catholic rotation.

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Ryan Carter (above) and Archbishop Wood take on Crestwood with a championship berth on the line. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Girls 5A
Crestwood (2-1) vs. Archbishop Wood (12-1)
Parkland HS, 1:00 PM

It’s late March, which generally means Archbishop Wood is going to still be in the hunt for a state title. The Vikings, who are chasing a fifth straight PIAA crown, are facing a new challenge this year with a week break between the quarterfinals and semifinals (then again next week between the semis and finals) but otherwise have been on an absolute tear since the PIAA brackets were finalized. All that stands between them and Hershey is a Crestwood team that does stand pretty tall but the Vikings seem to be in a different gear right now.

The Vikings have been on a tear offensively in the state tournament, averaging 65.7 ppg through three rounds. Wood’s shooters have also been lighting it up, senior Emily Knouse has made 16 threes in states and sophomore Sophia McDonald has been shooting well off the bench, the Vikings coming off a 17-of-36 effort from deep against Bethlehem Catholic. It certainly helps having Ryan Carter able to put plenty of pressure on with her ability to attack the rim then create turnovers defensively and Mike McDonald has a very deep group with juniors Emma Yogis and Sophia Topakas along with sophomores Makayla Finnegan and Emma Seckinger at the core of the rotation with plenty of others able to step in as well. Defensively, Wood hasn’t given up much either, the aggressive Vikings allowing just 30.7 ppg.

Crestwood’s certainly got the market in size well cornered. The Comets start 6-foot-1 Kate Gallagher at center, the senior flanked by a pair of 6-footers in sophomore Charlie Hiller and senior Kendall Petrosky in the frontcourt. As if that wasn’t enough height, sophomore Jackie Gallagher – Kate’s younger sister – is a 5-foot-11 guard, so there’s a lot of length in Crestwood’s zone defense. Junior Jordan Andrews is the outlier at 5-foot-5 but the point guard is pretty quick and gets her teammates the ball. Crestwood doesn’t go that deep into its bench but sophomore Cameron Vieney brings plenty of energy on both sides of the ball for coach Mary Mushock-Namey.

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Derrick Morton-Rivera (above) and Judge split their meetings with Imhotep so far this year. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Boys 6A
Father Judge (12-2) vs. Imhotep (12-1)
Norristown, 1:00 PM 

This has a high school hoops Ali-Fraizer trilogy quality to it. Judge and Imhotep are two heavyweights that will be meeting for the third time this season, with the teams splitting the first two contests. Judge took the first game, 53-51, back on December 14, with Imhotep taking the second contest, 58-54, in the District 12 Class 6A championship on February 28, a game in which Judge led, 33-17, at halftime.

Imhotep legendary coach Andre Noble and his Panthers (26-5) carry a 34-game PIAA state playoff tournament winning streak, dating back to a 76-69 Class 3A semifinal loss to Neumann-Goretti on March 15, 2016, when the PIAA was in the Class 4A system. The Panthers and Noble have won six state titles, interrupted in 2020 and 2021 by the COVID pandemic. This is the first time Imhotep is competing at the Class 6A state playoff level.

This is the first time Judge (22-7) has even been to the states. The Crusaders have knocked down one historical marker after another this season, winning their first Catholic League championship in 27 years, and have followed by winning their first state playoff games in program history.

The Panthers lost their most impactful player, game-changing, 6-foot-7 junior forward Zaahir Muhammad-Gray, in the third game of the season with a knee injury. In mid-December, highly-touted 6-9 sophomore Zion Green transferred to Camden. Still, Imhotep features a ton of talent, starting with its captain, junior guard RJ Smith, the Public League Player of the Year, along with senior guard Carnell Henderson, 6-5 junior wing Latief Lorenzano-White (6-5), 6-3 sophomore wing Kevin Benson III and 5-10 freshman guard Ian Smith. 

Judge will counter with 6-foot senior point guard Kevair Kennedy (Merrimack), 6-9 senior center Everett Barnes (Loyola Md.), 6-4 junior Derrick Morton-Rivera, and 6-foot junior guard Rocco Westfield and 6-5 junior Max Moshinski coming off the bench.

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Tyler Sutton (above) and Roman Catholic are traveling halfway across the state to meet Upper St. Clair. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Boys 6A
Roman Catholic (12-3) vs. Upper St. Clair (7-1)
Chambersburg HS, 2:30 PM

Roman has been quite emphatic through the states. The Cahillites (25-5) were sent out west after losing to Father Judge in the Catholic League championship, and finishing behind Imhotep Charter and Judge as the District 12 No. 3 seed. Presently, no team may be playing better than Roman. The Cahillites opened their state journey by beating the always-tough Gregg Downer and Lower Merion in the opening round, and followed that with a shocking blowout of last year’s defending state champion Central York with a crushing 96-46 victory. 

Roman reaches the state semifinals for the first time since 2023, when the current Roman seniors were sophomores. The Cahillites got here by beating Colton Hiller and Coatesville, 52-42, in the state quarters on Saturday. Roman is averaging 74 points a game in the playoffs, boosted quite a bit by its 96-point outburst against Central York, with someone different leading the Cahillites. Against Lower Merion, it was senior guard Sebastian Edwards dropping in a team-high 22. Against Central York, it was junior guard Sammy Jackson finishing with 30, and in beating Coatesville, it was sophomore guard Tyler Sutton’s 17 that paced Roman, with strong interior defense from Lafayette-bound Shareef Jackson.

The Cahillites will have a challenge in Upper St. Clair’s 6-foot-10 senior center Tyler Robbins, whose slam dunk with 1.2 seconds left in overtime was the winning difference in USC’s 51-49 victory over McDowell. This is the second time the District 7 champion Panthers have reached the state semifinals, the first coming in 2021. Aside from Robbins, a Miami (Ohio) commit, the Panthers’ 6-foot-3 senior guard Niko Gidas, who hit six treys and finished with a game-high 22 points against McDowell, will also bear watching. The Panthers are averaging 56 points a game in the playoffs, without allowing over 49 points. The last time Roman scored 49 points or less came in its 41-34 loss to Father Judge in the Catholic League championship.

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